Heritage Story | Rainbow Robotics

From a Lab-Born Challenge
to Robotics Technology That Drives Industry

The curiosity for robotics that began in the lab grew into a mission to develop practical robotics technology for industry.
Rainbow Robotics is a technology company that has grown along this journey of challenge and innovation.

A Technology Philosophy Rooted in the Founder’s Belief

Robots are not the goal; they are the means.
If they cannot solve real problems, they have no meaning.

Rainbow Robotics Founder, Jun-Ho Oh

A Technology Philosophy Rooted in the Founder’s Belief

From Pure Curiosity to an Integrated Robotics Platform:
Growth Sparked by Humanoid Robots

01 Curiosity That Began in the Lab

The robotics journey of Rainbow Robotics founder Professor Jun-Ho Oh began not as a robotics specialist, but as an engineer researching precision control and CNC machine tools. For him, robots were not merely experimental subjects. They were an engineering challenge to test how far control, sensor, and mechanical design technologies could expand.

When he first encountered ASIMO, he became convinced that Korea could build one with its own technology. That intuitive challenge became the seed of Rainbow Robotics.

02 The Birth of HUBO, Korea’s First Bipedal Robot

Humanoid robot research was not simple curiosity; it was a verification of technological possibility. The research team chose the path of developing and internalizing every required technology themselves.

In 2004, Korea’s first bipedal robot, HUBO, was born from this accumulation and verification of technology. Although it was an early prototype, its level of completion drew attention faster than expected. Alongside ASIMO in Japan and Atlas in the United States, HUBO was recognized as a world-class bipedal platform and became an important milestone for Korean robotics.

This experience shaped Rainbow Robotics’ philosophy of extending laboratory results into technology that actually works.

03 A Moment the World Noticed: Winning the DARPA Challenge

The value of the technology became clear at the 2015 DARPA Robotics Challenge. Researchers from around the world gathered to perform extreme missions simulating disaster situations. HUBO won first place, opening new possibilities for Korean robotics.

This achievement was more than a result. It was a decisive moment that proved Korea could compete with the world through its own technology.

04 Beyond the Lab: The Launch of Rainbow Robotics

After the DARPA victory, one truth became clear. Robots from the lab should not remain in the lab. They must be used for real industries and real people.

With that conviction, the KAIST research team founded Rainbow Robotics based on the technologies they had accumulated.

From that point, the company’s direction was clear: not a company that merely assembles robots, but a company that builds every technology robots need from A to Z.

A Company That Designs Core Technologies In-House

A true robotics manufacturer
must be able to build robots on its own.

Rainbow Robotics’ technology DNA comes from one principle its founder put into practice.

If the technology does not exist, we build it. Founder Professor Jun-Ho Oh believed that true technological independence comes from building an independent robotics ecosystem without relying on external suppliers. Unlike many robotics companies that source core components externally, Rainbow Robotics develops and produces core robot components such as motors, reducers, and controllers in-house.

During the development of HUBO, the team designed and built a wide range of core components, including actuators, motor drives, real-time controllers, BMS, and hands. That experience became the foundation of Rainbow Robotics’ identity today as a company that internalizes core technologies and components.

The technology DNA accumulated since the company’s early days has expanded into a technology spectrum spanning precision control, autonomous mobility, perception, safety, and AI. Rainbow Robotics integrates these technologies into one axis and advances collaborative robots, mobile dual-arm robots, mobile robots, and quadruped robots on a consistent technology foundation.

A company that designs core technologies in-house

History

Each step toward technology has become the path of Rainbow Robotics.

2026

Relocated headquarters to the new office building in Tech Valley, Jiphyeon-dong, Sejong

Opened the Pangyo AI Research Center in Pangyo 2nd Techno Valley, Seongnam, Gyeonggi-do

Reorganized business divisions and expanded business areas

2025

Awarded the USD 3 Million Export Tower at the 62nd Trade Day

RBQ-10 selected as one of Korea’s Top 10 Mechanical Technologies

Launched AI demonstration project for the RBQ Series quadruped robot

Participated in industrial collaboration for Samsung AI humanoid development

Launched the RBM Series mobile robots

2024

Became a subsidiary of Samsung Electronics

Signed a contract with the Korea Astronomy and Space Science Institute to develop an optical surveillance system for medium- and high-orbit space objects

Launched the RB-Y1 mobile dual-arm robot

Delivered a collaborative robot drilling machine solution for Korea Aerospace Industries process automation

2023

Awarded the USD 2 Million Export Tower at the 60th Trade Day

Established RAINBOW ROBOTICS USA CO., LTD in Schaumburg, Illinois, USA

Secured strategic investment from Samsung Electronics

2022

Awarded the USD 1 Million Export Tower at the 59th Trade Day

Received the Presidential Citation at the 17th Korea Robot Awards (CEO Jungho Lee)

2021

Obtained NSF certification for the RB-N Series (NSF/ANSI 169)

Listed on KOSDAQ (277810)

2020

Delivered drive assemblies and one additional item to LIG Nex1

Obtained ISO 9001:2015 quality management system certification

2019

Launched the RB Series collaborative robots

2018

Signed an operation service contract for humanoid robot experience services at the PyeongChang Winter Olympics

2017

Attracted KRW 10 billion in venture capital investment

2016

Received the 26th Ho-Am Prize in Engineering (Founder Professor Jun-Ho Oh)

Received the Order of Science and Technology Merit, Changjo Medal (Founder Professor Jun-Ho Oh)

Delivered mounts and drive units to LIG Nex1

2015

Exported DRC-HUBO+ to the U.S. Naval Research Laboratory (NRL)

Operated mounts for the Korea Astronomy and Space Science Institute’s electro-optical space object surveillance system

Won the DARPA Robotics Challenge

2014

Certified as a venture company

2013

Exported HUBO II to Google Inc. in the United States

2011

Exported HUBO II to MIT and others with support from the U.S. National Science Foundation (NSF)

Established the corporate R&D center

Founded Rainbow Robotics Co., Ltd. led by KAIST Professor Jun-Ho Oh, originally established as Rainbow Co., Ltd.

We are one of the few companies capable of building core robotics technologies in-house.

Explore Rainbow Robotics core technologies.

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